The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) defeated the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 27 runs to lift their fourth Indian Premier League (IPL) title at the Dubai International Stadium on Friday. The win completed a fantastic turnaround from last season, when the Men in Yellow finished bottom of the points table to miss the playoffs for the first time in their history.
Chasing an imposing 193-run target, the young KKR openers Shubman Gill (51) and Venkatesh Iyer (50) got off to a flying start, scoring 91 runs in 10.3 overs.
However, from 91 for no loss, KKR slumped to 125 for 8 in the 17th over in a dramatic batting collapse to lose the final. Shardul Thakur dismissed Iyer and Nitish Rana (0) in quick succession to snap the Knight Riders’ momentum in the chase.
Sunil Narine (2) has lived by the sword for much of his career but died by it tonight, picking out Ravindra Jadeja off Josh Hazlewood’s delivery at the long-on boundary to further increase his side’s perils.
Deepak Chahar struck to remove Gill, with Jadeja dismissing Dinesh Karthik (9) and Shakib Al Hasan (0) in the same over to cripple KKR’s middle order.
Rahul Tripathi (2) had been one of the most consistent performers for KKR so far, but was returned to the dugout soon after coming on, perishing to Thakur – who finished as the pick of the CSK bowlers.
Hazlewood ensured Morgan’s (4) miserable time with the bat continued, dismissing the KKR skipper cheaply. Shivam Mavi (20) struck a few lusty blows before falling to Dwayne Bravo as KKR fell well short of the mark.
Earlier, the du Plessis batted through the innings to score a spectacular 59-ball 86 and nearly claim the Orange cap for himself.
He first put up 61 runs with his opening partner Ruturaj Gaikwad (32) and that was followed by a 63-run stand with Robin Uthappa (31) for the second wicket.
Moeen Ali then made a late flourish with a stylish 37 not out off 20 balls, laced with two fours and three sixes as he stitched a 68-run stand with du Plessis.
CSK added 112 runs in the back end of their innings after they were 80 for one at the halfway mark.
For KKR, Sunil Narine took two wickets for 26 runs.